{"doi":"10.2166/wst.1991.0590","title":"Biodegradation Kinetics of Phenols in an Aerobic Biofilm at Low Concentrations","abstract":"<jats:p>Aerobic biodegradation of the phenols: phenol, 2-methylphenol, 4-methylphenol, 2,4-dimethylphenol, 3,5-dimethylphenol and 2,4,6-trimethylphenol was studied in a biofilm reactor to establish kinetic constants under conditions where the phenols were the sole carbon sources. Phenol concentrations were very low, in the µg/l concentration range. 2,4,6-trimethylphenol was not degraded. The degradation of the other phenols was 1'st order at concentrations in the bulk phase below 20-50 µg/l. Zero order reaction seemed to govern the reaction above 200 µg/l. The l'st order rate constants are 3-30 times higher than the constants calculated for easily degradable organic compounds degraded at 100-1000 times higher concentrations (mg/l range). However, the maximum phenol utilization rates and the Monod constants were much lower compared with constants obtained for the microorganisms grown in the mg/l concentration range. The Monod constant was about 100 times lower. The removal of “total biodegradable phenol” (TB-phenol) was very similar to the removal of a specific compound. The degradation of TB-phenol was l'st order at concentrations below 200 µg/l. When the total biodegradable phenol degradation is near its maximum capacity (o'order reaction) there was a preferential degradation of the most easily degradable phenols, phenol and 2-methylphenol, leading to an apparent inhibition of the degradation of the more slowly degradable phenols, in particular 2,4-dimethylphenol and 3,5-dimethylphenol.</jats:p>","journal":"Water Science and Technology","year":1991,"id":33935,"datarank":1.841472067932791,"base_score":3.332204510175204,"endowment":3.332204510175204,"self_citation_contribution":0.49983067652628066,"citation_network_contribution":1.3416413914065102,"self_endowment_contribution":0.49983067652628066,"citer_contribution":1.3416413914065102,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":27,"citer_count":22,"citers_with_citation_signal":19,"citers_with_endowment":19,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":null,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":false,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":null,"fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":176608,"name":"Bjørn K. Jensen","orcid":null,"position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":176609,"name":"Anders Torp Gundersen","orcid":null,"position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":176607,"name":"Erik Arvin","orcid":null,"position":0,"is_corresponding":false}],"reference_count":0,"raw_metadata":{"has_enrichment":true,"base_score":3.332204510175204,"endowment":3.332204510175204,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"views":0,"has_version_chain":false,"is_dataset":false,"is_oa":false,"pmid":"18998881","pmcid":null,"openalex_id":"https://openalex.org/W2526776703","authors":[],"funders":[],"total_grants":0,"fwci":1.4684,"citation_percentile":0.78911565,"influential_citations":0,"citation_trend":[{"year":2012,"count":1},{"year":2014,"count":1}],"oa_status":"closed","license":null,"oa_locations":[{"url":"http://iwaponline.com/wst/article-pdf/23/7-9/1375/101833/1375.pdf","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://doi.org/10.2166/wst.1991.0590","host_type":"journal"}],"fields_of_study":["Odor and Emission Control Technologies","Environmental Chemistry and Analysis","Microbial bioremediation and biosurfactants","Chemistry","Environmental Science"],"mesh_terms":[],"keywords":["Phenol","Phenols","Biodegradation","Chemistry","Reaction rate constant","Degradation (telecommunications)","Kinetics","Organic chemistry","Nuclear chemistry"],"sdg_mappings":[{"sdg_number":0,"sdg_label":"Clean water and sanitation"}],"linked_datasets":[],"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"database_accessions":[],"source":"live","citation_network_status":"fetched"},"created_at":"2026-06-09T17:15:05.421256Z","pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}